Graduation
by ShortySC22
Summary: Part of the Power Stayed on Series. Charlie's graduation goes about as well as expected.


**This is part of the Power Stayed On series. It was written as part of the RevoRedux AU prompt fest on LJ. Thanks again to my beta hithelleth and all those enjoying this series.  
**

_June 2025_

Charlie didn't know who came up with the idea of wearing a cap and gown for graduation, but she was not a fan. Couldn't her school have picked one that itched less? And then the cap didn't seem to want to stay in place, no matter how much she messed with it. She took a deep breath as she adjusted the cap one last time before she headed downstairs where her mom and grandparents were waiting to take a million smiling pictures. She didn't mind posing with Danny; it was the one picture where her smile was genuine. In all of the other pictures, it was a fake smile plastered on her face.

The weather reports had been calling for rain on and off for today, which made Charlie nervous. It had rained the day before, but the sun was still bright with few clouds. She was hoping the weather would hold off, considering the girls were wearing white while the boys wore green, since the school colors were green and white. She had painstakingly straightened her hair and knew that if even the smallest drop of rain fell, her hair would frizz out and go back to its natural curly state.

She also hoped the rain would hold out because Dad and Maggie weren't meeting up for pictures until after graduation and she'd hate for her mom to be able to get perfect pictures when Dad's ended up ruined.

After posing in front of the mantle, Mom had pushed her outside to pose for some pictures in the backyard with her grandparents on either side. Then Grandpa took the camera and managed to get some pictures of just her and her brother; those were her favorite. Everyone rotated around until Charlie could hardly hold a fake smile any more, but luckily it was time for her to head to the school.

As Charlie walked up the steps to the school, she looked overhead, noticing that the clouds were moving quickly and had turned gray. She shook her head, really hoping the rain would hold out. The school had planned on moving the graduation indoors if it rained, but with the graduation ceremony only an hour away, it seemed too close to call. Plus, she glanced towards where the clouds were coming from and it appeared that it was bright – a good sign.

She never understood the traditions her school had established, such as instead of alphabetical order, they marched down the football field in height order. Of course, they had created this height order ahead of time and most of the girls hadn't been wearing their heels to school, so now it would appear awkward. She watched as some of her friends snuck in New Year's poppers, beach balls to blow up, and silly string down their bras. She looked at her small chest and almost wished she could use it as a pocket, but there was no way she'd be able to fit a can of silly string there without it being noticeable. On top of that injustice, she had also not inherited the tall gene so she was towards the front of the line.

As the students marched down the football field towards the podium, she tried to see where Dad and Maggie were sitting. Her efforts were futile with so many people there with the bleachers on either side of the football field completely full and all the seats behind where the graduates were to sit were also full. About halfway down, the clouds opened up and it began pouring. Just her luck. At least her mom had been able to get some nice pictures?

She took her assigned seat and hoped her hair wasn't that bad. Really, hair should have been the least of her worries when she noticed that the white gowns had become see-through. She had been smart enough to wear a simple tank top and skirt underneath that wouldn't become see-through when wet. Of course, some of the other girls were not so smart and had worn dresses with loud flower patterns that were seen as they walked up to collect their diplomas. She had always thought people got their actual diplomas at the graduation ceremony but she found out it was just a case to put the diploma in; the real diplomas were going to be handed out after the ceremony in the cafeteria, which just seemed like extra work to her.

She supposed Mom had been disappointed when Charlie wasn't standing up on the podium to make any speeches. She wasn't smart enough for valedictorian or salutatorian and definitely not popular enough for class president. It didn't bother her, but she knew her mom was bothered by Charlie's lack of ambition. Not everyone could be the great Dr. Rachel Matheson and the sooner Mom learned it, the happier everyone else would be.

Finally, they reached the end of the ceremony! The class president said one last congratulations, everyone moved their tassels from one side to the other and caps went flying. Charlie threw hers straight up so she could catch it. When it came back down, she realized it was simply cardboard and had warped due to the rain. It would certainly be a memorable graduation ceremony and she still hadn't gotten a chance see Dad.

It was total chaos trying to find anyone after they had been dismissed. People kept grabbing her to give her a hug and take a picture. She was checking her phone to see if Dad had texted her any indication of where he was when someone grabbed both of her arms. She was about to fight them when she looked at who was there.

"Connor! What are you doing here?" She reached up and gave him a hug, happy to see him. She felt herself being lifted up and spun around. This was definitely a shock. She knew he had been touring with his band and didn't even think he knew about her graduation. It hadn't come from her, so from whom?

"We're on break from touring for a week and since Dad and I were spending time in Jasper and Miles had mentioned your graduation, we figured why not?" he said, putting her back down on the ground.

"Wait, Bass is here too?" She instantly brightened up at having both Connor and Bass here to celebrate her big day.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Bass said, sneaking up behind her.

"Bass! I can't believe you're here!"

In her excitement, she ended up smacking him across the face when she turned around to give him a hug.

"Well you better believe it. But there's more."

"More?" she squeaked out, turning her head in all directions. She forgot about her hair being back to its curly state and ended up whipping her hair right in Bass's face.

"Hey, kid."

"MILES!" Charlie barreled into him, almost knocking him over.

"Thanks for the rain, too. I really appreciated having a hot afternoon shower," Miles said sarcastically.

"Look at my hair. You think I wanted the rain?" Charlie snapped back.

"Oh, you mean your hair isn't normally that frizzy?" Connor teased.

"Shut up, you. So, whose idea was this?" Charlie said, pointing her finger between each of them.

"Ben told me about it but Nora couldn't get off work on such short notice, sorry. I mentioned it to Bass," Miles pointed at Bass.

"And when I was about to leave Jasper, Connor asked what was going on and decided to tag along." Bass finished Miles's sentence.

Charlie laughed, realizing how much she missed seeing Bass and Miles together. There wasn't any other pair quite like the two of them.

"Have you seen Dad and Maggie?" she asked.

"Not yet. We saw their car in the parking lot and they had said to just meet there. Do you need to find your mom?" Miles asked.

"Nope, spent time with her before graduation. After is Dad's time."

"So now what?" Connor asked.

"Dad made reservations for dinner. I'm guessing he knew about all of you and just wanted to surprise me?"

"In case my flight was late or Bass and Connor got stuck in traffic, we told him not to tell you. We didn't want to disappoint you," Miles replied.

Miles led the way back to the car and Charlie couldn't stop smiling. This was definitely not how she thought her graduation would go in the slightest, but she was incredibly happy with the way it turned out.


End file.
